Embracing the Fear | Leadership Advice

A few weeks ago I was out on a long solo training run in preparation for the 100-mile race I am participating in to raise money on behalf of BFO for Cara Chicago. I had already completed 18 miles of trail running in the mountains behind my town when the fear of a bear sighting had me turning back towards home. I was nearly down my last bit of the trail when a BIG, HUGE brown bear jumped on the trail less than 5 feet in front of me. Truth be told, I don’t know who was more surprised to see the other – the bear or me.

Now, I could have let this bear incident scare me off from running solo training miles, or I could do just what I did on my next solo run – pick a trail on the other side of town. Yes, I know bears are known to travel quite a distance, but in my head I was ‘safe’ at the new location. I still paced back and forth a good 5 minutes at the trailhead before I mustered up the courage to run solo. Eventually, I did start my run, and I did not encounter a bear.

So many times we are faced with fearful decisions – a new job, switching companies, which project to tackle first, handling employee issues, etc. The one thing that I have learned however is no matter how difficult it is to make the decision, the only thing I have regretted is not making the decision at all. The longer I put off deciding, the more it weighs me down and inhibits the progress on the rest of my tasks.

There is one question I always ask myself that helps push through my fear barriers. Am I willing to take responsibility for my decisions and fix the situation if the decision ends up not being the best choice? If the answer is yes, go for it. EMBRACE THE FEAR. Don’t let it paralyze you.